My Friend

My best friend's name is Anna. We made friends a few years ago. We are of the same age. We live in the same block of flats, so we see each other almost every day.

Anna is a tall slim girl. She has got long fair hair, large dark eyes, astraight nose and thin lips. She is nice. She is very honest and sensitive, understanding and kind. I trust her a lot and I'm sure that I can rely on her in any situation. She never lets people down. Anna is only 19 but she is very responsible — she finishes whatever she starts. She's got only one shortcoming - she is a bit stubborn. Nevertheless she is pleasant to deal with.

Anna is an only child and her parents love her very much. Her father is a lawyer. He is the most brilliant man I've ever met. He knows everything there's to know about the law. Her mother is a music teacher. No wonder Anna is so talented. She's got a very good ear for music. She likes jazz and plays the piano very well.

We spend a lot of time together. We often watch video or listen to music. Sometimes we go to the cinema or to the theatre, or walk around the centre of Moscow, visiting small cafes, museums, art galleries, shops. We talk for hours about all sorts of things (politics, love, teachers, girls). We discuss films, television programmes, books.

I never quarrel with Anna. But if there's some misunderstanding between us we try to make peace as soon as possible. What I like best about her is that she is always willing to help and share her knowledge, thoughts and feelings. I respect her for her fairness, strong will, intellect and modesty.

I miss Anna when we don't see each other for a long time. Without her I would feel lonely and uncomfortable. Our friendship helps me to feel strong and sure of myself.

Vocabulary

to make friends - подружиться

of the same age - ровесники

block of flats - многоквартирный дом

straight - прямой

honest - честный

understanding - отзывчивый, чуткий

to trust - доверять, верить

to rely on smb полагаться на кого-либо, доверять

to let smb down - подводить

responsible - ответственный

whatever - что бы ни

shortcoming - недостаток

stubborn - упрямый

nevertheless - тем не менее

to be pleasant to deal with - приятно иметь дело c

an only child - единственный ребенок в семье

lawyer - юрист, адвокат

no wonder - неудивительно

a good ear for music - хороший музыкальный слух

quarrel - ссориться

misunderstanding - недопонимание

to make peace - помириться

as soon as possible - как можно скорее

share - делить, разделять

to respect - уважать

fairness - справедливость

strong will - сильная воля

modesty - скромность

to miss smb - скучать без кого-либо

Ответьте на вопросы

1. Have you got a lot of friends?

2. What is your best friend's name?

3. Where does he (she) live?

4. What do you do in your free time?

5. What do you usually talk about?

6. What do you like best about your friend?

7. Has he (she) got any shortcomings?

8. What features do you like (dislike) in people?

Describing people's appearance (Описывая внешность)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION (ОБЩЕЕ ОПИСАНИЕ)

Positive: beautiful is generally used to describe women; handsome is used tо describe men: good-looking and attractive are used for both. Pretty is another positive word to describe a woman (often a girl), meaning 'attractive and nice to look at'.

Negative: ugly is a very negative word; plain is negative but more polite.

HEIGHT AND BUILD (РОСТ И ФИГУРА)

medium height and build tall and slim medium height and very muscular short and fat

Another word for slim is thin, but with a more negative meaning, e.g. John is lovely and slim, but his brother is very thin It is not very polite to say someone is fat; overweight is a bit less rude.

HAIR (ВОЛОСЫ)

blond(e) brown dark black straight wavy curly hair

SPECIAL FEATURES (ОСОБЕННОСТИ ВНЕШНОСТИ)

The man on the left has verypale skin (light skin). He also has broad shoulders, with a scar on his forehead. The other man has dark skin. He also has a beard and moustache.

ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT A PERSON’S APPEARANCE

(ВОПРОСЫ О ВНЕШНОСТИ)

q: What do you look like? a: I’m tallish, with short fair hair.

q: How tall are you ? a: About 1 metre 65.

q: How much do you weigh? a: I don't know ~ roughly 50 kilos, I guess.

We can use about and roughly to mean 'more or less' when talking about height (= how tall someone is), weight (=how heavy is someone) or age. The suffix ‘ish’ can be used at the end of some adjectives to mean 'quite" and at the end of some numbers to mean “more or less”.

She's got longish hair.

He's twentyish.

She's roughly 40.

EXERCISES

1. Дополните предложения подходящим по смыслу словом. (Возможно несколько вариантов)

   1. He's got very muscular____arms________.

   2. She's got blonde _____________________ .

   3. He’s got very pale ____________________ .

   4. They're both got curly _________________ .

   5. I would say he was medium ____________ .

   6. Her brother has got very broad__________ .

   7. Last time I saw him he had grown a beard and ___________________ .

   8. Both men were very good-________________ .

2. Замените подчеркнутое слово более подходящим или вежливым

1. He told me he met a handsome girl in the disco last night.____beautiful_________

2. She's beautiful bur her younger sister is really quite ugly._____________________

3. I think Peter is getting a bit fat, don't you?_________________________________

4. I think she's hoping to meet a few beautiful men at the tennis club._____________

5. Paul is very thin._____________________________________________________

3. Вы хотите узнать о внешности, росте, весе. Что нужно спросить? Дополните вопросы

What ___________________________________ ?

How ____________________________________?

How much _______________________________ ?

4. Сделайте информацию в предложении приблизительной

1. She's 20. ___She’s 20, more or less___________

2. I'm 75 kilos.___________________________

3. She's 1 metre 70._______________________

4. They're both 30.________________________